big food faces annihilation unless it moves w ith … food faces...says john stanton, professor of...
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12/1/2016 Big food faces annihilation unless it moves with millennials on health | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainablebusiness/2016/dec/01/bigfoodmillennialshealthannihilationorganicinternet 1/5
Big food faces annihilation unless it moves withmillennials on healthThe food industry in the US and around the world is scrambling to adapt to a youngergeneration’s appetite for fresher, healthier foods
Supported by About this contentAlison MoodieThursday 1 December 2016 09.29 EST
A college student in the 1980s may have been content living off instantnoodles for dinner. Nowadays, a twentysomething is as likely to pick up a
Millennials are exposed online to issues such as sustainable sourcing and the health effects of certain foods,and they are influenced by what their friends and public figures say on social media. Photograph: Alamy StockPhoto
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Apiece of wild salmon with quinoa and a fresh rocket salad from their local
grocery store on any given night.
It’s a shift that’s having ripple effects throughout the food industry asmanufacturers and retailers scramble to adapt to a younger generation’sappetite for fresher, healthier foods.
But their efforts aren’t creating a more sustainable industry as healthyconvenience meals are often just as heavily packaged as processed products.
Sales of fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood, and prepared deli foods haverisen from $257bn (£206bn) in 2009 to a forecasted $315bn in 2016,according to a report from London-based market research firm Mintel.
The shift is taking place because consumers are changing so much, and fast,says John Stanton, professor of food marketing at Saint Joseph’s University inPhiladelphia. And it’s not just any consumer – millennials, those born roughlybetween 1982 and 2004, are driving the growth. They favour fresh, minimallyprocessed food that is easy to prepare, says Stanton.
The power of the internet
“There used to be a slow change in how consumers behaved, but there’s adisruptive change among millennials,” according to Stanton. “Digital nativesare nothing like their grandparents and not much like their own parents.”
A big factor is their unlimited access to huge amounts of information by wayof the internet, he says. Millennials are exposed online to issues such as
More consumers in their 20s and 30s are favouringrocket salad and fresh products over processed, shelf-stable, packaged foods. Photograph: RosemaryCalvert/Getty Images
12/1/2016 Big food faces annihilation unless it moves with millennials on health | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian
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sustainable sourcing and the health effects of certain foods, and they areinfluenced by what their friends and public figures say on social media.
“They demand much more information about products, the cost and thematerials involved,” says Stanton.
According to a survey from food and beverage market research firm HartmanGroup, 30% of millennials said organic ingredients were “extremelyimportant” compared with 22% of the older, baby boomer generation. Theyalso favour healthy convenience foods, such as prepared grocery store mealsand meal kit services, which send customers pre-cut and measuredingredients to make dishes at home.
According to the same survey, 39% of millennials said they had tried a mealkit service at least once, compared with just 8% of baby boomers. Sales forprepared deli foods, such as grilled chicken breast or wild rice salad, are alsoup, from $8bn in 2009 to $11bn in 2014, according to the Mintel report.
Retailers are responding by expanding their fresh food and prepared mealssections, and cutting down on store size to better suit millennial consumers,many of whom live and work in cities. In the US, both Target and Wal-Marthave recently opened hundreds of stores that measure around 40,000 sq ft, asignificant downsize from the typical 100,000 sq ft store.
Changing shopping habits
Cutting down on store size makes sense, since modern consumers are nolonger buying their groceries at just one shop, says Laurie Demeritt, CEO ofHartman Group. At least 70% of US consumers are shopping at five or morestores a month, and 50% visit two shops per shopping trip, she says.
Some retailers are even changing features that seem integral to the grocerystore experience. UK retailer Tesco stopped selling sweets and chocolates atits checkout counters after a survey found that two-thirds of its customerssaid removing candy from checkouts would help them make healthierchoices.
The growth of healthy convenience foods such as meal kits and freshlyprepared meals, both from grocery stores and delivery services, is mostly apositive thing for health and sustainability, says Hans Taparia, an assistant
12/1/2016 Big food faces annihilation unless it moves with millennials on health | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian
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professor at the New York University Stern School of Business and co-founderof an organic food business.
Meal kits in particular tend to be more nutritionally balanced than TV dinnersof the past, and they often use more sustainably grown produce and meat,says Taparia. US-based Purple Carrot, for example, offers only plant-basedmeals, while Sun Basket, an organic meal delivery service, uses meat free ofantibiotics and artificial hormones.
“The carbon footprint is also likely to be lower,” adds Taparia, “since adelivery truck offers the equivalent of a ‘shared ride’ versus everyone drivingto the grocery store individually to make purchases.”
Some even have a social message. Munchery gives customers the option todonate 1% of every order to a non-profit of their choosing.
Packaging and fad foods
A downside to convenience foods is the packaging – each ingredient, down tojust a teaspoon of cumin, typically comes in a disposable container. Tapariasays meal kit companies recognise the problem and are taking steps todevelop more sustainable packaging. SunBasket is now using compostable orrecyclable plastic for its containers, compostable produce bags and ice packsmade from water and compostable cotton.
Big brands are also trying to cater to millennials’ appetite for healthier food.But instead of making fundamental shifts in their behaviour, they are givinginto short-term fads, such as offering gluten-free items or removingingredients deemed to be unhealthy. Global foods giant General Mills hascommitted to removing all artificial colours and flavours from its cereals,
Photograph: JeffreyIsaacGreenberg / Alamy/Alamy
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while introducing products such as Pillsbury gluten-free chocolate chipcookies and Cheerios Protein.
The problem with fad-driven products is that consumers may perceive themas being healthier when they are not, says Taparia. Cheerios Protein, forinstance, still has about four teaspoons (16 grams) of sugar per serving.
“Most of these products that are attempting to cater to the latest trends byplaying around the edges are not any healthier and unlikely to make adifference in health outcomes,” says Taparia.
Mars has committed to dropping artificial colours from all its products, butnot sugar, which is “the biggest problem from a health perspective”, saysTaparia.
As a result, perhaps, millennials are turning to smaller companies that theyfeel are more in line with their values of sustainability and “real” food, saysTaparia. According to another recent study [pdf] from Hartman Group, smalland medium-sized companies have grown by 11%-15% since 2012, comparedwith the top 25 food manufacturers, which saw just 1.8% growth.
What big brands should be doing, says Taparia, is taking the long view andlaunching fresh food under new brand names. “It would take a lot ofinvestment and work,” he says, “but they have to think big, otherwise they’llface annihilation in 10 years.”
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